Saturday, 16 June 2007

Bread of Life part 3

The third and final part of the reflection by Fr Sylvester CFR

Bread of Life…Culture of Death :

We arrive at our present time with its own unique set of problems rooted, as we said, in secularism. Our starting point was the question of whether or not Eucharistic piety, especially in its most solemn form, the Feast of Corpus Christi, is relevant for us here and now. The answer is a resounding YES! This “yes” is echoed in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Mystici Corporis, canon 944 of the 1983 Cod of Canon law; John Paul the Great’s final encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia and its follow-up document, Redemptionis Sacramentum, which was written in collaboration with the future Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). All of these strongly promote expressions of Eucharistic piety, especially the solemn celebration of Corpus Christi, as an extension of the graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps even more persuasive is the number of conversions and vocations emerging out of Eucharistic movements such as Youth 2000 (essentially a “Forty Hours” devotion adapted for teens and young adults) and the transformation and renewal experienced in those parishes that have started perpetual adoration. Eucharistic Congresses have also been a source of renewal in the Church. The proof is in the pudding. These grassroots Eucharistic movements reverberate a clear and convincing “yes” that Eucharistic piety is not only relevant, but more necessary and, therefore, more powerful than ever.

History teaches us why Eucharistic piety remains an essential and vital force in the clash between Christ and contemporary culture. Jesus says, “I Am the Bread of Life.” Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago, and for 2000 years His Mystical Body, the Church, has been sharing in His passion and death. Yet, the Bread of Life is our sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus, “the Living Bread come down from heaven.” There can be no better weapon to destroy the culture of death than the Bread of Life where He Who trampled down death by death is alive, truly present and all-powerful. Indeed, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and at the same time, He no longer calls us servants but friends. Like the Christians of old, we can find peace and strength with our Friend, Jesus, in quiet, prayerful adoration. Like the Christians of old, we cannot wait to be “tolerated” before we declare the universal kingship of Jesus publicly, for instance, through Eucharistic processions of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Jesus was never tolerated, neither will His Church be, nor us as His members. Besides, if we are aiming for mere tolerance, then we are shooting at the wrong target. Our goal is much loftier and more sublime, the conversion of sinners, the salvation of souls. This can only be accomplished through prayer and Christian witness, both privately and in public. There is no other way, and the Way is a person, Jesus Christ, forever present and powerful in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Bread of Life. God is alive. The godless culture of death is already destroyed. Let us not be afraid to stand victorious with Jesus in a Eucharistic culture, a culture of life-giving, sacrificial and ultimately Christian love.

Ss Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

May the holy angels be our protection

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust down to hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander the world for the ruin of souls.

Blessed John Paul II

Apostle of the New Evangelisation

Christ offers you his friendship. He gave his life so that those who wish to answer his call can indeed become his friends.

St Paul the Apostle

Fearless evangeliser of the nations

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. " Galatians 2.20

St Augustine of Hippo

Anti-Pelagian hero

Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in teYou have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts find no rest until they rest in you.

St John Mary Baptist Vianney

Role model of priesthood lived in its fulness

Le sacerdoce, c'est l'amour du coeur de Jésus.The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.

St Ignatius of Loyola

Taught the way to friendship with Christ through prayer

Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me: I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more.

St Thomas More

Hero of the Catholic Faith in England

I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first.

St Maximilian Kolbe

A martyr for friendship

No one in the world can change truth. What we can and should do is seek truth and serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is within. Beyond the armies of occupation and the hectacombs of the extermination camps, two irreconcilable armies lie in the depth of every soul. And of what use are the victories of the battlefield if we are defeated in our innermost selves?

St Aelred of Rievaulx

Teacher in the ways of friendship

Friendship is a stage bordering upon that perfection which consists in that love and knowledge of God, so that man from a friend of his fellow man becomes a friend of God, according to the words of the Saviour in the Gospel: I will not now call you servants, but my friends.

St Justin, Martyr

Proto-Apologist for the Faith

"But straightaway a flame was kindled in my soul; and a love of the prophets, and of those men who are friends of Christ, possessed me...If, then, you have any concern for yourself, and if you are eagerly looking for salvation, and if you believe in God, you may-since you are not indifferent to the matter - become acquainted with the Christ of God, and, after being initiated, live a happy life."

St Margaret Clitherow

She died for the priesthood and the Mass together with her unborn child

I ground my faith upon Jesus Christ, and by Him I steadfastly believe to be saved, as is taught in the Catholic Church through all Christendom, and promised to remain with Her unto the world's end, and hell gates shall not prevail against it: and by God's assistance I mean to live and die in the same faith.